US Nitrogen Verdict Slashed

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A $5.7 million jury award to a Greene County chemical firm has been slashed to less than half in accordance with an order by the federal judge presiding over the case.
Records in U.S. District Court in Atlanta show the award against Weatherly Inc. was reduced to $2.2 million as ordered by U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown.
US Nitrogen sued Weatherly charging that errors by the engineering firm had caused the chemical firm to sustain some $30 million in damages.
Weatherly provided engineering services for the construction of US Nitrogen's ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant in Midway, Tenn.
A jury heard testimony in the case in September and voted to award US Nitrogen $5.75 million, but Brown already had ruled that based on contract between Weatherly and US Nitrogen, the maximum recovery was $2.2 million. Court records show that the $5.75 million was subsequently reduced to $2.2 million.
Following the reduction US Nitrogen filed a motion to have the reduction eliminated. US Nitrogen also disputed the calculation of the recovery cap citing added fees incurred in the construction after the contract was signed.
Weatherly replied by stating that the arguments being raised by US Nitrogen had already been considered and rejected by the judge.
A court hearing has been requested by lawyers involved in the case but the judge has yet to act on the request.
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